A Symposium in Portland Oregon on April 19 2009 at PSU campus
There is a Q. n A. in the latter half of this video footage
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
For Immediate Release
Here is the Press Release
April 16, 2008
Contacts: Bruce Adams, President Columbia Chapter (OR)
keepthemseparate@aol.com
Juanita Greenway, Chair Clark County Chapter (WA):
GJUANI@aol.com
Laws Denying Same-Sex Marriages Violate the 1st Amendment
Americans United Sponsors Symposium on Same-sex Marriage
Portland - The Portland and Clark County, WA Chapters of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United) will sponsor a symposium on Same-Sex Marriage to be held Sunday, April 19th, 2:00 PM in Hoffmann Hall at Portland State University. The event, titled “Civil Rites”, is co-sponsored by the Portland State University Department of Women’s Studies, Basic Rights Oregon and Love Makes A Family, the Oregon Education Association, the Portland Association of Teachers, the Portland JACL (Japanese American Citizens League) , and the ACLU (Oregon).
Bruce Adams, President of the Columbia Chapter of Americans United in Portland, says the group was spurred to action by the November ,2008 passage of Proposition 8, which eliminated marriage equality in California by inserting Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California into the State Constitution.
“California’s Proposition 8 was a real eye opener for many people,” says Adams. “They saw some religious groups mounting a huge effort to impose their religious view of marriage on everyone, not by persuasion, but by law. And now with the decision in Iowa, where the court unanimously agreed to overturn the state's ban on same-sex marriage, the issue is once again being debated here in Oregon, which passed a similar ban in 2004."
The panel presentation will include religious leaders whose denominations recognize same-sex marriages. “It just has never made ANY sense to me why the Federal Government or States can 'ban' same-sex marriages if some religious faiths believe they can and should, be performed.,” says Susan Gates, Chair of the planning committee.
The event will be moderated by Steven Green, Director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Law & Democracy, Willamette University School of Law. The Panel will include Tamara Metz, Professor of Political Science – Reed College, Beth A. Allen, one of the Attorneys challenging Oregon’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriages; Reverend Tara Wilkins, Executive Director of the Community of Welcoming Congregations and Rabbi Daniel Isaak of Congregation Neveh Shalom.
According to Juanita Greenway, President of the Clark County, WA Chapter of Americans United, organizers hope the program will open the public’s mind to the importance of religious neutrality in family law and to the real impact of discrimination on families Personal experiences of living in same-sex marriages will be shared by Rob Nosse, who parents two children with his partner of 17 years, Jim Laden., and by Bonnie Tinker, Director of Love Makes A Family, Inc. Bonnie Tinker and her partner, Sara Graham, have been married without legal recognition since 1977 and have three grown children.
The event is free and open to the public. More details and information can be found at: www.keepthemseparate.org.
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